


Like an Arrow to the Heart

by DeathByStorm



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Archery, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Pre-Calamity Ganon, Pre-Slash, Revali (Legend of Zelda) Being an Asshole, Revalink week, Rivals to oh no he's hot, attempted humour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathByStorm/pseuds/DeathByStorm
Summary: Wherein Revali sees Link’s archery and it’s absolutely atrocious so he decides to spend the daybestingteaching Link.My humble offering for day 7 of Revalink week.
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 218





	Like an Arrow to the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> In which the six archery lessons I took like eight years ago come in handy. 
> 
> As always, beta'd by my partner in life and crime, [Eilera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilera/pseuds/Eilera)
> 
> All remaining mistakes are my own.

Thunk!

Revali heard the sound of an arrow hitting home in the dead center of the target and frowned. It was early in the morning, just after breakfast. Who could possibly be using _his_ range? It was sunrise! No one else came out to the range this early. While he was happy to show off when the occasion called for it, he also had come out here to practice alone.

The roar of the wind and the steep drop into the canyon below made it difficult to see exactly who was down there. The last time this had happened, it was an overzealous fledgling whom he'd promptly chewed out for using the range unsupervised. Revali stood at the edge of the launch platform with his arms crossed, waiting for the intruder to finish. He bet it was Olli. She was almost ready to take to the range and had always been overeager. The sound of distant targets exploding stopped. He crossed his wings and prepared to give the errant fledgling the lecture of her life.

Link alighted on the flight range landing and wiped the sweat from his brow. There was a small smile on his face, which if it had been anyone else would be an exhilarated grin. Revali’s eye twitched. Of _course_ it was him.

“You!”

Link’s smile dropped. 

“What are you doing on my range?” Revali said.

Link lifted his hands and hesitantly signed _Your range?_

“Yes, _my_ range,” Revali said impatiently.

_Zelda and the elder are in a meeting and no one is to be within earshot. I was told to go practice._

Why that meddling old coot! Just because he was the only one not mindlessly fawning over Link didn’t mean that he wanted the knight’s presence forced on him. Still he was at least partially aware of the political ramifications of just booting Link off the range. 

“Well, let’s see then.” If Revali had to suffer Link’s presence, he could at least watch the Hylian humiliate himself.

_Really?_

“I don’t have all day,” Revali said.

Link shrugged and leaped off the platform. Revali’s heart jumped in his throat until he heard the glider unfold with a snap. He shook his head. Reckless idiot. Maybe if he was lucky, Link would be put out of commission due to some stupid action on his part and Hyrule would finally see that Revali was the better choice to be the hero.

Below, Link took aim at the first target, fired, and missed. Unsurprised, Revali settled back to watch. Link immediately fired at the second one. To his credit the arrow at least clipped the target this time. When Link began to glide out of view, Revali took to the air so that he could watch Link from below. Every time he’d met him so far, Revali had seen the Link that was the best swordsman in all of the land and the princess’s personal knight. Flawless. Inhumanly perfect.

It was comforting then, to know that there was something that Link was atrocious at. Well, atrocious by Revali’s exacting standards. In total, Link missed over half of the targets that he shot at and the others… well it was more a matter of luck that he hit them at all. 

“How are you supposed to protect the princess like that?” Revali said after they returned to the launch pad. “Clearly they chose the wrong person for the job.”

Link’s cheeks were red from the wind which contrasted nicely with the Rito garb he was wearing. Not that Revali would allow himself to notice that. Or care if he did notice.

_I hit the targets._

“Yes, you did,” Revali said. “But you didn’t hit them all let alone each target in the same spot. You lack control.”

And – Well Revali did love to show off.

“Here. I'll give you the privilege of watching a true master at work."

He gathered the winds around himself and launched upwards. He drew his wings close to his body and let himself drop. It was exhilarating as always. He nocked his arrows and shot multiple targets in the dead center with a flourish. He’d show Link. He’d blow his feathers off and Link would be so in awe of his abilities that he’d just hand over the sword.He glided with the help of the currents and his gale, letting them carry him into the best place for hitting them. In the end Revali struck 19 of them in a row. 

“A new record,” Revali said proudly. He glanced over at Link, who was stone faced as always. “You could stand to look more impressed.”

Link opened his mouth and Revali saw his throat flex as he tried to speak before giving up and signing _Teach me?_

Revali must have looked like he was about to say no, because he added _For Zelda?_

“You’re lucky I’m in a sharing mood,” Revali said. “I’m sure even you could absorb a thing or two into that thick skull of yours.”

At that Link did light up and he smiled. Huh. Who knew that all Revali had to do to get Link to respond to him was to offer to humiliate him. Frankly, he was surprised that Link’s face hadn’t cracked.

“I will-I will teach you, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy,” Revali said. He turned to face over the flight range not only to strike a more dashing pose but to avoid Link’s gaze. It was funny. Now that he had Link’s full attention, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. “Mastering the bow is very different than being born already knowing how to swing a sword.”

Link gestured to the range.

“I think not. First, I need to see if you can consistently hit the target without involving aerial manoeuvres,” Revali said. “A moment.”

He walked into the hut that backed against the cliff above the range and dug through a couple of the boxes at the back. Ah there it was. He tucked the butte under one arm. Gesturing for Link to follow him, he walked down the hill from the range, and then slid the butte into a slot that had been built into the cliff. It was something that he’d had set up for the younger Rito when some of them had expressed interest in learning archery.

“Okay,” he said. “We are going to start here. I want you to hit the target centre oh… five times in a row.”

Link didn’t answer him. He drew his bow and Revali catalogued half a dozen minute imperfections in his stance before Link released the first arrow. It sank into the target with a satisfying thud and was quickly followed by two more in quick succession. Revali considered. The grouping of the arrows was passable for a Hylian, but there was definitely some room for improvement.

Link looked back at him with a small smirk which if Revali was counting was the second time that he had seen an actual expression on Link’s face. He wasn’t. He cleared his throat.

“Your stance is atrocious,” Revali said. “And your grouping could use some improvement.”

Link tucked his bow under his arm. _That’s practically a compliment coming from you._

And that’s more words than I am used to hearing you say without prompting. He swallowed the urge to say it out loud and focused on the task at hand.

“Draw your bow again,” he said instead. 

Link raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Revali circled Link, and then abruptly reached forward and adjusted his hips slightly. The Hylian blushed. It darkened as Revali nudged his shoulders into a more satisfactory position.

Revali shook his head. Link may have been the wielder of the sword that seals darkness, but even he should know better than to think that he was immune to the elements. Especially since he had no feathers or fur to protect him.

Revali tapped Link’s elbow. “Lift this up a bit. No- too high. Yes, right there. There. That should maximize what little skill you have.”

This time the grouping of the arrows was entirely in the centre of the target.

“What do you know,” Revali said “You might not be entirely hopeless.”

Link looked like he wanted to say something.

“But don’t get too excited yet. I’m still not allowing you out on the range.”

_But I hit the target!_

“There is more than one way to hit a target,” Revali said tartly. “This time what I want you do is hit the top left-hand corner of the butte only. Remember to take windspeed into account when you aim.”

The wind whipped Link’s hair around his face as he drew his bow. Revali had the bizarre urge to brush it out of his face. He shook it off and was thankful that the breeze was powerful enough to hide his ruffled feathers. What was wrong with him today?

Four out of the five arrows did hit in the correct part of the target. The last one missed and thudded against the cliffside instead. It was far better than he’d expected Link to do. Of _course_ he would be a natural at this too.

Link frowned as it did so.

“Not so easy is it, ‘Hero?’”

 _It is harder than I thought._ Link was either oblivious to Revali’s taunt or he just didn’t care. Revali didn’t know what option was worse.

“You aren’t to go onto the range until you can sink five arrows into the target space of my choosing,” Revali said.

At this, the winds around them picked up and Revali tucked his scarf around himself more tightly. And good luck doing that in this weather he mentally added.

 _Fine by me_. Link signed and then went back to trying to hit the top left part of the target with a determined light in his eyes.

Altogether, they managed six more rounds before Revali pronounced himself satisfied. Revali decided to look at Link’s quick progress as a testament to his superior teaching skills. After all, Link would not have progressed so swiftly on his own.

“I’ll admit it. I didn’t think I would be made to eat crow over something like this,” Revali said. “You’ll never surpass me of course but-”

It wasn’t a deliberate pun. Heck it wasn’t even funny, but Link doubled over laughing anyways.

His laughter was hoarse but pleasing to the ear. Revali swallowed hard. He wanted to hear it again.

Link settled down enough to clumsily sign with shaking fingers, _Wouldn’t that be cannibalism?_

“I beg your pardon?” Revali snapped partially out of surprise and mostly to see if Link would laugh again.

And he did. Revali’s heart did some weird kind of sideways thump in his chest. Link straightened up after a time and tucked a strand of loose hair behind his ear. It gleamed bright gold in the morning sun.

_Thank you. I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time._

“Message for Link!”

Revali barely held back a squawk of surprise. And why did he feel like a fledgling caught with their hand in the seed jar?

“Warn us next time!” he snapped.

“Sir, I did, but neither of you replied. I think you were distracted?”

The messenger wilted under the intensity of Revali’s glare.

“Well, what is your message?”

The Rito turned to Link “The meeting is finished. Princess Zelda wants you back immediately.”

_Thank you. Tell the princess that I will be back as soon as possible._

"Very good," the Rito dipped a short bow and then flew off back toward the village.

Revali hadn’t noticed how open Link’s face had become over the course of their morning practice until he had become closed off again. It left something inside him cold, but perhaps that was just the wind.

Link slung his bow over his shoulder and turned stiffly towards Revali. _Thank you. Would you teach me again sometime?_

Even his signing left no room for error. It was a stark difference between the Link of just a few moments ago.

“As if I would miss out on watching you mess up,” Revali sniffed. He crossed his arms and raised his beak.

Link nodded and then began the long trek back to Rito Village. His retreating figure was soon swallowed up by the wide landscape. 

“Next time,” Revali muttered as he pulled out his bow. “Next time I’ll embarrass you for real.”

But his heart wasn’t in it.


End file.
